I need to sell some parts for funds and room. 
I need to sell some parts for funds and room.
What sort of cool things can you do with these? I've always liked these and Mavericks for some reason.
In reply to Swank Force One:
It is one of those cars that if you replace pretty much all of it then they can be cool. Just like every car ever made.
They are absolutely miserable in stock form. No redeeming qualities whatsoever but if you swap the engine, trans, brakes, suspension, rear end and interior you have a capable car that no one expects.
Ditchdigger wrote: It is one of those cars that if you replace pretty much all of it then they can be cool. Just like every car ever made.
There is one in town running a haltec and turbo on a built stock motor. It's pretty cool.
I want to build one to rallycross, amongst other things.
In reply to Junkyard_Dog:
Exactly! My Fiat 850 was the cheapest car available when new. It was an awful car by any metric you choose to measure it by. Stuff 21lbs of boost into it and feed it with megasquirt, seriously upgrade the suspension and brakes and it is a super cool, head turning, badass fun machine.
I am not saying I am against the idea of buying and modding a Chevette. That goes against every fiber of my being. I am just saying don't expect them to be an undiscovered gem in the automotive world. They were dreadful and pretty much only purchased new by people who needed a small car and were too "buy 'Merican!" to get the superior German or Japanese stuff available at the time.
Ditchdigger wrote: They were dreadful and pretty much only purchased new by people who needed a small car and were too "buy 'Merican!" to get the superior German or Japanese stuff available at the time.
Which is especially ironic considering they were designed by Opel and also made and sold by Isuzu, but I get your meaning.
Opel T-car:
Isuzu T-car:
Including it's first cousin the original Impulse.
I've heard rumblings about putting an Impulse engine in one of those.
I saw one a couple years ago with a GM 4.3 V6 with a blow through carb/turbo set up.
Ecotec, cut out the whole front suspension and graft in something that doesn't completely blow, 3rd-gen F-body rearend, rallycross it.
One of the YouTube accounts I follow did a video of a pair of Chevettes that occasionally got thrown on the dyno:
24whp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0AyWXqwV88
47whp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoTbQ4b9Z3s
There's a burnout video for them too but it involved getting strong guys to lift the rear bumper.
Love the "Is that thing running right?" comment from the dyno operator.
About 18 years ago Ransom was telling me about a race class that ran at PIR in Oregon that had Chevettes competing in a vintage class against frogeye sprites and the like. I thought Awesome! Sounds like a cheap way to go wheel to wheel racing and immediately went to my father in law who had a "nice" 82 'vette "scooter" that I could have had for free. Within a mile I had written off the idea completely. There was just no way it could have been fun or worthwhile given the restrictions of the class and my meager budget. The amount of work needed to make the thing keep up with 998cc sprites was mindblowing. That 24hp dyno run kind of says it all.
We have a semi-local all-Chevette ice racing series as well: http://www.chevettesonice.ca/
Junkyard_Dog wrote: Isuzu T-car:
Holy hell that's HOT. 
Swank Force One wrote:Junkyard_Dog wrote: Isuzu T-car:Holy hell that's HOT.
Yup, and its basically an Opel with a newer nose:
Also available here as "Opel by Buick", or "Opel by Isuzu"
So what exactly is that white car and can i get it in the US?
And for good measure here is a Kadett City. Look familiar? Why are Chevettes not showing up at car shows done up like this? Probably because our Chevette had godawful construction and drivetrains-I'll concede that.
But still, would you not rock that? Imagine if we had gotten the good engines and all the body styles: wagon, pickup, coupe, 2 and 4 door sedans, semi-convertible....sigh. Why GM? WHY?
Swank Force One wrote: So what exactly is that white car and can i get it in the US?
Go find a 70s Opel Buick coupe or Opel by Isuzu or Isuzu Gemini, then import the JDM/Australia only nose.
So basically find the last remaining car in the country and spend tons on an unobtainium nose 
You might have better luck finding the late 80s/early 90s Brazillian Chevette nose. Its pretty darn close.
I hung out with/dated a girl with a 2-door/4-speed back in the early 90's. Absolutely, pathetically, dangerously slow in stock form. It felt like the rockers were going to scrape the ground when going hard around a corner too. Coming from big 70's American sedans it felt like driving a go-kart, and was an absolute blast to hoon about the countryside in!!!
Swank Force One wrote: So what exactly is that white car and can i get it in the US?
They did sell these in the USA, called the Isuzu I mark. They are rare, but still exist in California at least. More of them are 4 doors and they are almost all diesel, but I have seen 2 door gas ones too.
Chevette's weren't much different than their competition when they were first on the market, and weren't really bad cars, either. By the time they stopped selling them in the late 80's, though, they were definitely past their best before date. I used one as a commuter from 87-91. It was pretty plain, but simple, and I never had a single problem with it in 4 years. I sold it to buy a Diesel Rabbit. That was a big mistake.
Search Tempest turns up no Chevettes for sale within my radius, but I did stumble upon a $600 Opel Manta race car in Charlotte.
link Looking for other cars of that era led me to this $2000 Datsun 610 for sale. Some rust and an automatic.
Try to find a turbo Impulse instead. Same chassis far better/cooler car. It's like a RWD + Turbo Scirocco.
Swank Force One wrote:Junkyard_Dog wrote: Isuzu T-car:Holy hell that's HOT.
Early Isuzus are the hotness personified.
Most of the Impulse suspension "by Lotus" can be grafted into the Chevette, and the Fiero guys do have parts to make the front handle better. It's also hard to argue with that Impulse DOHC motor, if you can find one.
The Chevette used the same TH180 transmission as the Opel and the Geo Tracker, and while I probably wouldn't swap in an Opel CIH the Suzuki 1.6-2.0 would not be a bad option. I've always wanted to see the Sprint GT DOHC 1.3 and a Samurai transmission in an Opel or Chevette myself.
Also, the Chevrtte 5-speed is a close ratio T-5 with a"Ford" front bolt pattern. With the right bell housing that opens up swaps ranging from Ford 2.3 Turbos to S10 2.2L and GM 60 degree stuff like 2.8l and 3800 v-6s.
My swap of choice would be a turbo Ecotec with whatever manual trans works with the shifter layout (Canyon/Colorado or Solstice/Sky).
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